Visit local pilgrimage sites this Jubilee Year

Maria Montemayor

Thursday, January 30, 2025

A collage of photos from Maria's visit to Holy Rosary Cathedral, a Jubilee pilgrimage site in Vancouver.

During the 2025 Jubilee, people are encouraged to make a pilgrimage to Rome and walk through the Holy Door in one of four major basilicas (St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls). There are some prayers that pilgrims can recite when reaching the Holy Door. If you pass through a Holy Door, detach from sin, go for Confession, perform corporal or spiritual works of mercy, receive the Eucharist, and pray for the Pope’s intentions, you can receive a plenary indulgence. The Jubilee Indulgence is a plenary indulgence for those who have gone before us to obtain full mercy. It may also be sought for yourself.

What if you are unable to visit Rome this year? Can you still go on a pilgrimage and receive a plenary indulgence? The answer is yes, you absolutely can! For the Jubilee of Hope, there are designated local pilgrimage sites in every country, and Canada is no exception. How is a local pilgrimage site determined? The local bishop can designate any parish, shrine, or basilica in his territory as a Jubilee Year pilgrimage site.

For the 406,000 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, Archbishop J. Michael Miller has designated three sacred sites where pilgrims may obtain the Jubilee Indulgence: Holy Rosary Cathedral, St. Jude’s Parish and Shrine, and St. Anthony of Padua Parish including the adjacent Shrine of Santo Niño de Cebu.

The Archdiocese of Toronto has listed eleven pilgrimage destinations: St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica, St. Paul’s Basilica, St. Edward the Confessor Parish, Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, three St. Mary’s Parishes (Toronto, Brampton, and Barrie), St. Barnabas Parish, St. Gregory the Great Parish, St. Padre Pio Parish, and Martyrs’ Shrine. The Diocese of Hamilton has six pilgrimage churches.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has also listed national shrines for pilgrims to visit during the Jubilee Year, including four from Quebec: St. Joseph’s Oratory, Sainte Anne de Beaupré, Our Lady of the Cape, and St. Anthony’s Hermitage and one from Manitoba: Bishop Velychkovsky National Martyr’s Shrine. The Archdiocese of Winnipeg has eight Jubilee sites.

One Canadian Archdiocese has gotten creative in encouraging local pilgrims. The Archdiocese of Regina created a beautiful printable Pilgrim Passport for their Jubilee pilgrimage sites. The passport includes the histories of the pilgrimage sites and sections for pilgrims to write down notes and prayer intentions.

Back in 2016, during the Year of Mercy, I made pilgrimages to all of the Holy Doors in the Archdiocese of Toronto. It was such an exciting and memorable adventure for me. May these local pilgrimage sites serve as symbols of hope and adventure for you as well.

A collage of Holy Doors that Maria visited during the Year of Mercy and the dates she visited them.

If you end up visiting these or any other Jubilee pilgrimage sites this year, let us know by tagging us on X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram!